Japanese Stocks Fall Sharply in Morning

Japanese stocks fell sharply early Monday, leading declines in the rest of Asia, on the yen’s surge to a new 1½-year high against the dollar, weak earnings results from several firms and selling after the Bank of Japan’s inaction on Thursday.

The Nikkei Stock Average was down 3.6% at the lunch break in Tokyo. Japanese markets were closed on Friday for a national holiday. Australia’s ASX 200 was 1.3% lower, New Zealand’s NZX-50 was down 0.2% and South Korea’s Kospi was 0.5% lower. Many markets in Asia were closed for national...